Vegetarian fest a hit with Bangkokians : Poll

Sixty-nine per cent of Bangkokians are determined to stick, at least in part, to a vegetarian diet during the 10-day vegetarian festival to make merit, a Bangkok Poll revealed on Tuesday.

The poll was conducted on 1,243 respondents who live in Bangkok between October 12 and 14.

Of the 69 per cent who would eat vegan food, 31.7 per cent said they would have the dishes for some meals, while 22.9 per cent would have them for every meal throughout the festival and 7.2 per cent said they would eat them for three days.

Forty per cent of them said they ate the vegan food to make religious merit, 24.6 per cent for their health and 12.7 per cent said they followed their practice every year.

Asked about the symbol of the festival, 69 per cent of the respondents mentioned vegan food, the yellow Je flag (26.4 per cent) and the fire-walking ceremony (2.4 per cent).

Meanwhile 57.4 per cent thought the prices of vegan dishes and raw materials had increased from the previous year while 39.9 per cent felt they were the same and 2.7 per cent believed the prices were lower.

The respondents said they would buy food from shops and restaurants (67.5 per cent), make the dishes at home (25.7 per cent) and buy frozen ones from convenient stores (3.4 per cent).